Boyfriend of Texas mom found dead charged with corpse tampering

( NewsNation ) — The boyfriend of Giselle Tapia-Salazar, the Texas mother who was found dead hanging from a dock in May, was arrested in connection to her death investigation, according to the League City Police Department.

James Hart, 51, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of tampering with Tapia-Salazar’s corpse. He was charged with tampering/fabricating physical evidence with intent to impair a human corpse, which requires a bond of $80,000. He is currently being held at the Galveston County Jail.

This comes nearly two months after Hart’s girlfriend Giselle Tapia-Salazar, 30, was found dead, hanging from a dock near the boat they both were living on. Tapia-Salazar’s death was initially ruled a suicide but is being reinvestigated as a homicide. Investigators believe the 30-year-old mother of four was positioned to make it look like she had died by suicide, and police said in June they had identified two persons of interest in the case.

NewsNation’s Alex Caprariello spoke with Hart in a June interview during which he said he was heartbroken over his girlfriend’s death. He also claimed he was not involved in her death.

“I found myself in the middle of this thing, but I literally have nothing to hide,” Hart told NewsNation. “I had nothing to do with this. I’m telling the truth.”

Caprariello confirmed with police in June that Hart was being investigated as a person of interest in connection to Tapia-Salazar’s death and that there is a history of reported domestic violence between the couple.

Detectives told NewsNation they are still waiting for the Galveston County Medical Examiner Office’s full report, to include Tapia-Salazar’s toxicology report. The investigation remains ongoing and detectives hope to have the report sometime next week.

NewsNation’s Alex Caprariello contributed to this report.

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